Grand Slam and Triple Play Not Enough for Huskies

What are the odds of a grand slam and a triple play happening for the same team, in the same inning of a game they ultimately lose? It's at least one-in-something as Owatonna lost 12-8 at Rochester Mayo Thursday afternoon despite having each of those baseball rarities going in their favor.

The Huskies had dug themselves too big a hole by the time of the big hit by Zach Wiese and the chaotic triple play that followed Isaac Gefre's sliding catch in the sixth inning.

Mayo lefty Will Weick did a bit of everything for the Spartans, giving up four hits over five innings before struggling in the sixth. He also had four hits including a home run and four RBI's.

Owatonna went through four pitchers as Matt Segler, Logan Gauthier, Easton Reuvers and Matt Seykora all tried to contain a Mayo team that before Thursday had struggled to score. The Spartans batted through the order in the first and third innings, scoring five and four runs respectively.

OHS got off to a great start. Ethan Walter tripled to deep center and crossed the plate on Jake Miller's ground out to second base for a short-lived 1-0 lead. Owatonna pushed in two to pull within 5-3 in the top of the third only to absorb that second blow to make the score 9-3.

Jon Klecker doubled and scored in the fourth. Mayo answered with three more in the bottom of the inning for a 12-4 lead. The fifth inning went by quietly to set the stage for the wild sixth.

Miller doubled for the Huskies. Ethan Rohman and Klecker walked before Wiese blasted the first pitch he saw from Weick over the left field fence. It was Weick's final pitch as Levi DeYoung relieved him and did not allow a hit over the final innings.

Mayo appeared set to add to their lead in the last of the sixth, loading the bases with no one out. Weick battled Seykora with a nine-pitch at-bat and finally knocked a ball toward left fielder Gefre who raced in and dove to the ground to catch that ball. He came up and threw to second after the runner didn't come back to tag the base. The Huskies then appealed at third after that runner dashed for home. The umpires came together briefly and ruled that he hadn't tagged up and called him for the triple play.

OHS Coach Tate Cummins said after the game he doesn't remember another triple play during his 12 seasons in Owatonna. Personally, I remember calling a triple play while covering Pine Island's American Legion team at the state tournament a few years ago for KDHL radio. (It's the kind of thing that's hard to forget.)

The Huskies got one runner on base in the seventh but that's where the threat ended with Mayo winning 12-8.

Owatonna (4-2, 2-2 Big Nine) hosts Rochester Century Friday, April 26 at 5 pm at Fuller Field at Dartt's Park in a twice-delayed makeup game.